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Wheater sets sights on Wembley

David Wheater has relished his move to Bolton having gone within one game of playing at Wembley.

By Ben Collins

Last Updated: 22/02/11 5:36pm

David Wheater has relished his move from Middlesbrough to Bolton having gone within one game of playing at Wembley.

The 24-year-old centre-half made a £2.3million move back into the Premier League in January and has soon settled in at the Reebok.

Wheater has formed an effective partnership with Gary Cahill, with Bolton having kept a clean sheet in each of his four games so far.

Three of those have come in the FA Cup, with Wheater helping Bolton secure a 1-0 win at Fulham on Sunday to book their place in the quarter-finals.

"At the end of the day, that's my job," he told the club's official website. "I think I'm playing well alongside Gary. If we can keep the clean sheets we know we've got players who can put the ball in the net.

Big welcome

"It's been fantastic. You always wonder when you move, even if it's a loan deal, whether you are going to settle in.

"But I've come to Bolton and it's been great because every single one of the lads has been great. The manager and all the staff have been brilliant as well.

"I think it showed in the final few minutes of the game (against Fulham) when the players were throwing bodies in the way of everything that we're doing it for each other."

Bolton must now travel to Birmingham for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals and Wheater reckons Wanderers fans should start planning for a trip to London.

"There's no reason why we can't get to Wembley now," he said. "It's always nice to avoid the big guns, Hopefully we'll meet an Arsenal or a Manchester United in the final and go on and win the competition.

High hopes

"There's no reason why we shouldn't aim high and target playing at Wembley in both the semi-finals and final. I've never played there before and these are the kind of stadiums you want to be playing in.

"It's been quite a turn-around for me. I was playing down in the Championship at the start of the season and now we're doing well in the league and targeting a game at Wembley."